Saturday, October 17, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. CT
This online workshop will explore the complex nature and role of love as it is presented in Buddhist psychology and Western psychotherapeutic theory and practice.
From the inception of both traditions, there has been ample commentary on the function of love. In Buddhist traditions, it is addressed in the Brahmaviharas, a foundational practice that encourages curiosity about how and who we love. In the psychotherapeutic tradition, it has been suggested that a primary developmental need is to both give and receive love from our earliest experiences of relationship. Yet the nature of love can easily hide behind an array of other feelings and needs akin to, but distinct from, love as it is understood in these healing traditions.
For clinicians, this workshop will provide opportunities to explore the therapeutic nature of love and the importance of consciously working with it in clinical treatment. Themes will include the therapist’s experience of love for the patient, the patient’s longing to feel and be loved by the therapist, and the role of needed boundaries alongside human affective arisings that include the tenderness of love, affection, and protectiveness.
For meditators, this workshop will offer a deepening understanding of the spiritual challenges posed by authentic love and efforts to cultivate it with fewer unconscious conditions. Primary themes will include the relationship between equanimity and love, the nature of love as explored through the lens of the wisdom teachings, and healing interventions in both traditions that restore this most generative and essential part of the human condition.
Member Rate: $35 • Standard Rate: $40
Registrants will receive on-demand access to recording(s) that can be viewed for four weeks following the conclusion of the program.
Dr. Pilar Jennings is a psychoanalyst based in New York City, focusing on the clinical applications of Buddhist meditation practice. She has been a Buddhist practitioner for 40 years, a teacher of Tibetan Buddhism in the Sakya lineage, a Visiting Lecturer at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University, and a faculty member of the Nalanda Institute for Contemplative Science. Her publications include "East of Ego: The Intersection of Narcissism and Buddhist Meditation Practice," "I've Been Waiting for You: Reflections on Analytic Pain," "Imagery and Trauma: The Psyche's Push for Healing," and "Mixing Minds: The Power of Relationship in Psychoanalysis and Buddhism." Her most recent book, To Heal a Wounded Heart: On the Transformative Power of Buddhism and Psychotherapy in Action, is a psychoanalytic memoir exploring her entry into clinical work as a practicing Buddhist.
Program Format
This is a live, interactive online program that will also be recorded. Registrants will receive on-demand access to recording(s) that can be viewed for four weeks following the conclusion of the program.
Join online via a Zoom link that will be emailed during the week before the program.
Please download Zoom for free at zoom.us/download and test your connection at zoom.us/test. For further information, check out www.theosophical.org/FAQ or email webinars@theosophical.org.